Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOILERS

[Goji]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

Spoilers. Be warned.

One of my friends insisted on going to the movies today, and this was really the only choice. I didn't have much in the way of expectations. They were just about met, either way.

I kept waiting for Nicholas Cage to burst into full Wicker Man hysteria mode (HOW DID IT GET BURNED?!) but he never did. Frankly I was disappointed by it. I was far more interested in getting a good chuckle out of that than I was in following the ho-hum plot about the mystical all-seeing paper. Still, we got a flaming moose out of the deal, and when you're talking Nicholas Cage movies, you tend to count your blessings where you can. I'm happy about the moose.

My friend also deeply enjoyed how little Caleb's female counterpart seemed to care that the earth and all its inhabitants were doomed. At the end, when the Whispering Alien Dudes deny Nicholas Cage entry to their ship (which makes them the most sensible characters in the movie - after Ghost Rider, I'd be hesitant about sharing space with Nicholas Cage myself) and Caleb is getting all teary-eyed, she ignores them both and just climbs aboard the alien ship as if she were on her way to McDonald's. What's that? My mother, my best friend's dad and everyone else I have ever met are going to get toasted to death? Oh well, at least I've got this here bunny wabbit!

Knowing that she and Caleb, the two most annoying characters in the movie, survive makes it harder to enjoy the otherwise satisfyingly horrific ending.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

^^^I believe that Abby had a lot of time to come to terms with what was going to happen and maybe that is why she accepted it all so easily. It seems to me that she had been hearing the voices for a long time and trusted them and was totally comforted by them informing her that her mother 'was safe" i.e had died.

I didn't find the children annoying at all but that is probably because I like most kids.

I really liked the movie. I gave it an A.

I do wish that I hadn't seen any previews before hand as I knew that the plane crash was going to happen. I would have preferred if I had had no knowledge of what was going to happen.

I am not sure it is the type of movie that I could watch over and over as once seen there is no suspense on reviewing.

 

[Checkmate]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

I think you missed one of the major points. Not just any kids were saved - only people who could "hear" the voices of the aliens/angels/whatever. So, the "prophecies" were a test, as well as a way to convince whoever COULD hear the numbers that they were indeed real, and not just a figment of their imaginations. If I heard a voice saying, "Be at such and such a place at such and such a time," I would think I was crazy. But if I heard that voice, and also knew that it had been correct in predicting disasters for 50 years, then I'd believe it. The prophecies were absolutely necessary to make the people who can hear the voices BELIEVE.

That's how I read it, anyway.

So all those kids who were receiving the numbers knew exactly what they were? I'm pretty sure the only one who figured that out was Abby's grandmother, Lucinda, and it drove her barmy in the process. (And why were the aliens sending it to her anyway? She was old and dead and, being soothsayers, they knew she would be old and dead by the time they got there to take her. It's not like they needed her to 'build it so we can come steal your granddaughter' or anything.)

The things the aliens were saying to the kids were far more soothing and comforting. And it was a bunny that helped win them over. Flat-out kiddy bribery and lies ("your mom is safe"). That's the type of thing that won them over.

And what the hell were the numbers Caleb was scrawling? What possible use would they be within hours of the destruction of the world?

It was a dumb movie. The vast majority of it was useless filler that had zero impact on anything. They didn't even need the prophecies to get the children to their destination -- the aliens came and picked them up in a stolen SUV and drove them there.

It wasn't deep. It wasn't surreal. It was just dumb.

 

[Captain Craig]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

So all those kids who were receiving the numbers knew exactly what they were? I'm pretty sure the only one who figured that out was Abby's grandmother, Lucinda, and it drove her barmy in the process.

All the other kids 'taken' is a question that hangs for me as well. Did they all get the numbers also? If so what was the purpose? To allow for the maximum amount of people to know and prepare for the end? Thats my only conclusion cause the angels/aliens were only going to take the selected individuals. Also, there is no reason to conclude 8yr old Lucinda "figured" out what the numbers were. It drove her crazy, yes and maybe an adult Lucinda put some pieces together but she didn't have the numerical paper.

And what the hell were the numbers Caleb was scrawling? What possible use would they be within hours of the destruction of the world?

A question I had as well. I hope its explained in an edit. My assumption was that perhaps they were back up coordinates. Not that they were meant for anything beyond the next 24hrs.

It was a dumb movie. The vast majority of it was useless filler that had zero impact on anything. They didn't even need the prophecies to get the children to their destination -- the aliens came and picked them up in a stolen SUV and drove them there.

It wasn't deep. It wasn't surreal. It was just dumb.

I disagree that it was dumb but *shrug* oh well.

 

[TGTheodore]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

And what the hell were the numbers Caleb was scrawling? What possible use would they be within hours of the destruction of the world?

I think the aliens made him recreate the same numerical sequence on the spot to urge John to believe that something was going on and to go with it.

A last, urgent kick-in-the-pants to get with the program, if you will.

--Ted

 

[Kpnuts]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

Or just to get him to write down the final digits, that were missing from Lucinda's paper.

Only Nic Cage interrupted him and had to figure them out the other way.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

Id rather there wasn't aliens inthe movie, and I get the Ezekiel's Wheel tie in; however, I think i would have enjoyed the ending more if it was less Sci-Fi and more supernatural.

 

[Checkmate]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

Who cares what the last digits were? They meant nothing to anyone. Again: The aliens came and picked the kids up. They didn't have to be delivered to a specific spot at a specific time.

If Cage was shot dead in the first three minutes of the movie, the ending would have been exactly the same. His entire role, much like these stupid prophecies (that were buried for 50 years to boot) were completely pointless filler for the rest of the movie, which took up maybe 10-15 minutes of time.

At best, the only thing the prophecy did was give Cage acceptance of his situation and got him to go back to his family to die. But that's a pretty effin' convoluted way of doing that.

 

[ThunderAeroI]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

Well I enjoyed it, it was alot of filler and the plot was pretty stinky.

 

[Checkmate]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

I said that originally myself. It's definitely a watchable movie. But it is in no way deep, ingenius, or a fantastic work of fiction.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

The ending was way too much of a bummer for me. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with such a high body count before. (Even at the end of Terminator 3 only half of the people died. But then, I suppose you could argue that the 2003 Battlestar Galactica miniseries had an impossibly high body count, around 60 billion or so, that puts it leagues ahead of everyone else.)

 

[Miss Chicken]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

All the other kids 'taken' is a question that hangs for me as well. Did they all get the numbers also? If so what was the purpose? To allow for the maximum amount of people to know and prepare for the end? Thats my only conclusion cause the angels/aliens were only going to take the selected individuals. Also, there is no reason to conclude 8yr old Lucinda "figured" out what the numbers were. It drove her crazy, yes and maybe an adult Lucinda put some pieces together but she didn't have the numerical paper.

I don't think the other children got the numbers. The numbers were solely aimed at John to convince him to let go of Caleb. He had to solve the mystery of the numbers before he realised that only the aliens could save Caleb. John tried to prevent two disasters and was unable to.

The parents of other children who were 'taken' were probably convinced by some other methods.

 

[Checkmate]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

^ That's ridiculous. The only reason John even knew where Caleb was at the end was because of the numbers. The aliens would have been able to take Caleb just as easily as they took every other child; they befriended them, lured them out like pedophiles, and drove them away without hassle or consequence. There was literally no point whatsoever in any of the prophecies. It was an empty movie; a pure popcorn flick.

And in regards to the quoted text, an adult Lucinda most definitely did figure it out. She even told her daughter the exact date of her death. She had "Everybody Else" written under her bed, and all of the disaster photos lining her home like wallpaper.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

I gather that the aliens wanted to children to go willingly not by any sort of force. They did take Caleb and Abby but they knew that John would find them. They knew that Dianne would be killed. All that was predestined.

However they still wanted John to give Caleb permission to go. I assume this was because they wanted Caleb to be able to let go of his past as well. Caleb was more dependent on John than Abby seemed to be on Dianne. What use would Caleb be on the new planet if he was resentful at being taken?

 

[Checkmate]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

They did take Caleb and Abby without force. He wasn't resentful in the slightest, and John was the only one who was upset about his leaving. Hell, it was Caleb who was convincing John, not ht eother way around. The children wanted to go with the aliens. And, again, the only reason John knew where they were was because of the prophecy.

I also see no evidence that they needed/wanted John's permission. They didn't seem to bother with it from anyone else, including Dianne. In fact, she was the one who died trying to get her daughter back. The aliens certainly had no problem using lies and deceit to win the children over.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

They took Caleb and Abby from Dianne by stealing her car with them in it. To me that was taking them by force.

Caleb was willing to go with them but at first this was only because he thought that his father would be going too. He was upset when he realised his father was to be left behind. The aliens knew that John would have to tell Caleb to go without him which is what John did.

We don't how the aliens dealt with any other children besides Abby and Caleb. They had no trouble convincing Abby that her mother was 'safe', but I believe that Caleb needed to see his father before he went so that they could let go of each other

 

[Checkmate]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

No, taking them by force would include them kicking and screaming the whole way. They were more than complacent and happy to go along with them. Likewise, they could have dealt with Caleb exactly the same way they dealt with Abby, telling him a bold-faced lie.

They were not a kind species. They obviously had a minimum of fifty years of forewarning to the event and knew exactly what was going to happen. They practically murdered Abby's mother (since they knew she was going to die chasing them) and they were kidnapping children around the world for what effectively was just some kind of experiment.

Why wait until the last minute to kidnap the children? Why torture John with foreknowledge of his demise? Why not spend the entirity of the 50 years helping the entire population instead of just the kids who could "hear" them? They apparently didn't have any problem with humans as a whole, else they wouldn't have found them worth saving to begin with. It was a natural disaster that humans had no part in whatsoever, so it's not like they were letting them die because they of the typical sci-fi motive of humans being too destructive/killing themselves anyway.

It's just nonsensical all around.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

I assume that they were a non-linear species and they knew that the Earth could not be saved as they, for 50 years knew the future.

However maybe they weren't able to physically go back into the past but could only project themselves in a very limited way i.e whispering to Lucinda etc.

It might have taken them up 50 years to actually reach the Earth in their spaceships. They could only save a portion of the population because they had limited space on their ships and the new home could only support a limited amount of people as well.

 

[Jono]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

Really enjoyed the movie, one of the best films I've seen so far this year.

 

[Faldor]

Re: Knowing - Nic Cage movie 3/20 Discussion, Review and Grading-SPOIL

I found this movie completely awful. Badly written and badly acted. Some very funny moments though, like the gratuitous point of view shot of a train running people over, and the wtf ending.